


Yellow

by saltylikecrait



Series: The Time Between [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Exploration, F/M, Finn hates deserts, Jedi, Lightsabers, more of a friendship fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2019-11-28 07:42:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18205520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltylikecrait/pseuds/saltylikecrait
Summary: A rumor of Jedi artifacts takes Finn and Rey on an exploration into a desert world.





	Yellow

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Finnrey Friday!

“So, this is the place?” asked Poe. “You sure?”

The three of them gazed out over the world as they were about to enter its atmosphere. Rey scanned the overall appearance of Klatooine. Flecked with reds, yellows, and browns, she could only find a few dark spots that indicated to her that they were bodies of water. The world seemed to have more variety in geography than Jakku, but she wasn’t sure if it was much better.

She nodded. “From what I could gather, there should be an archive hidden somewhere in the Derelkoos Desert…”

Poe glanced at his map and entered in a couple of coordinates. “I’m not going to land near a town,” he explained. “The last I heard about this place was it was still full of Hutt sympathizers that want to bring them back to power, so be careful. There’s still a few dangerous Hutt cartels. Finn, I’ll give you guys a tracker to use to find me again when you’re done.”

Finn and Rey both agreed that seemed like the best plan. They both packed bags of ration cubes and water that would last them for up to three days. The plan was if they hadn’t found anything by the second day, they would have to turn around to return to the shuttle.

“I would say it’s probably better to travel at night,” Rey began, “but I’m worried what we’ll find. The sun might not be our only enemy.”

Her old habits and instincts kicked in almost immediately when she looked outside the shuttle as Poe was landing and saw nothing but sand and rock formations as far as the eye could see. It wasn’t the dunes of Jakku, but sand was sand, no matter how rocky this kind was. Finn did not appear pleased by this discovery, but he seemed to accept that he volunteered for this excursion and he would to help Rey find Jedi holocrons if there were any left on this dusty planet.

She examined her supplies and began a mental checklist of what was in the bags, what they might need to scavenge the shuttle for, and how and when to use what. It wasn’t ideal to her, but they would have to make due with what they had.

So, as prepared as they could be, Finn and Rey took their first steps into the desert.

“Where to?” Finn asked.

Rey pointed west. “This way, I think.”

“How do you know?”

She shrugged. “The Force? A good guess? Got a better plan?”

“Not at all.” He shook his head.

They wandered the first day through the sand, sleeping near an outcropping of rock for cover in a small tent. At signs of coming near civilization, they wandered off in a wide berth to avoid being seen. Their journey seemed to be going well, but halfway through their second day they were both growing eager to find something, _anything,_ that would show they were coming close to what they were looking for.

“Ugh,” Rey growled in frustration. “Hey, Force,” she half-shouted. “A vision or something would be nice right now!”

Finn chuckled. “I’m not a Jedi, Rey, but I’m pretty sure that’s not how the Force works.” Then, he pointed out ahead of him, gazing out beyond the cliff they were standing on. “But maybe _that_ would be a good place to start?”

She almost rolled her eyes until she walked over to him to look what he was pointing at. Glancing out over the horizon, her mouth fell open.

“Seriously?” she groaned. “Are we sure this isn’t how the Force works?”

Out ahead of them, maybe a mile away, stood a series of columns with what appeared to be the entrance to a temple of some sort. The sand looked thicker around it, but they could get through it quickly, probably.

But when they got closer to the temple, they realized they were not alone. A pair of Klatooinians stood guard outside the entrance, though Rey noted they looked bored, probably from a lack of action happening around here. But one thing was sure: _something_ was in that temple, and whatever it was, it was worth guarding.

“Think we should risk it?” she asked Finn.

He glanced around, scanning the area. “We might be able to swing around and come from another direction. Either there is a back way in, or we can sneak behind them. Think they have a good sense of smell?”

Rey observed the Klatooinians and noted their canine noses, wondering if their olfactory glands were superior to humans or if it gave them an advantage of some sort in the desert air. She never met someone of this species before to have any real idea.

“Not sure,” she admitted, “but I think we should try your plan out.”

While it took a little longer than Rey would have cared to add to their time, she agreed Finn’s plan was better than just making a run for it. There was no other entrance as they had hoped, but they realized the two Klatooinians were positioned farther away from the temple than they initially believed. Walking quietly, but quickly, they snuck behind them.

They were surprised to find the temple was still in wonderful condition, noting how the bronze statues of strange, snakelike beings had been shined recently and the entry room which lead into others had been swept free of dust and sand.

“We need to be careful,” Finn observed. “There might be others inside the temple.”

Rey nodded as she opened a door and went inside.

They explored the temple for a while, not running into anyone but also not finding any of the holocrons that had been rumored to be here. “I sense them,” Rey said. “They are here, but I can’t figure out where.”

The room they stood in was one they came to for a second time. To Rey, the holocrons seemed to sing to the Force and the sound they made was the loudest here. It was almost as if they were hidden and Finn and Rey would have to find a way to get into the temple further. What stood out to the both of them in this room was the life-sized statue of another snakelike being, a female, judging by the way she stood up and how the features of the statue just appeared more feminine to Rey. She was depicted as wearing ceremonial robes and decorated with real yellow jewels and gold.

In her hands looked to be some sort of staff weapon. Rey curiously studied at it and noted it was a double-sided weapon of some sort.

“I think this is real,” breathed Finn as he too glanced over the weapon. “Look, it’s resting in her hands, not molded into them.”

And when Rey glanced closer, she found this was exactly the case.

Before she could get a better look, however, a group of Klatooinians entered the room, pointing blasters at the pair. They spoke in a language that neither could understand and if they knew Basic, they ignored Finn’s pleas to believe the story that they were just a couple that wanted to explore the temple, nothing more.

After a few minutes of attempted negotiations, Rey decided she couldn’t wait to be shot at, so, she drew her lightsaber – the yellow one she wasn’t sure she liked – and tried to convince the Klatooinians to back away. 

Upon activation, it crackled and flickered out. 

“Oh, come on!” Rey whined, shaking the saber out of frustration.

The yellow blade reappeared after a few moments, startling her and the Klatooinians. With a grin, she used the lightsaber to deflect their startled blasts away from her and Finn.

Without a weapon, however, Finn was a sitting duck.

“Can you cover me?” he shouted to her against the deafening sound of blaster bolts being shot off. “I have an idea.”

“Hurry,” Rey answered.

As she protected him from the incoming shots, Finn stumbled his way toward the statue, reaching his arm out for the weapon. Holding it in his hand, he looked at it a little curiously before he thumbed something on its hilt.

Twin plasma blades, as bright and brilliant as the gold on the statue, glowed in the dimmed light. They were shorter than Rey’s own yellow blade, and the color was deeper than hers, but the length was far more suitable for a double-bladed weapon. Finn twirled it around once, and then, holding it firmly in his hands, charged for the nearest Klatoonian.

Rey almost stopped to marvel at the doubled-bladed saber and how unique it was in combat until she reminded herself that there were still four other Klatoonians in the room and at least two of them had her in their sights. She swung her lightsaber, backing up and swiped at them to try to scare them off. Eventually, her side made contact with Finn’s and they met eyes for a moment before she understood that it was time to quit deflecting their bolts and attack them head on. They weren’t going to back off, which would have been the smart thing to do.

When she ran her blade through the side of one Klatoonian, she surprised her to see him back up a step in shock and then fall to the side. She didn’t think she killed him, but the wound would have been big enough that without immediate care, he would be dead in a few hours.

The others looked at him with alarm, almost in unison, before they ran for it.

“Well, that went better than I expected,” said Finn as he frowned at the Klatoonian on the floor. He gazed at the lightsaber in his hands. “Didn’t expect this either.”

Approaching the statue again, Finn halted in his steps as the room began to tremble around them. There was a light scraping sound, and they watched as three cubes slid down one of the sleeves of the statue’s robes and into her hands. A chute had been hidden there.

“Woah,” said Rey. “Clever.”

Finn glanced at the lightsaber again. “I guess this is what set the statue off? But how? I removed this a couple of minutes ago.”

“Delayed reaction?” Rey shrugged. “In any case, we found the holocrons and if the stories are true, these contain knowledge on how to manipulate the energy of a lightsaber.”

He looked puzzled. “And what exactly would that do?”

“Dunno,” she admitted. “I heard this had once been the location of a temple where a Jedi Master lived and taught students that were in the Outer Rim. One of his students was named a Sentinel after he died and she guarded a secret ability she mastered. I assume that’s her.” Rey nodded at the statue.

“Meaning this would have been her lightsaber,” remarked Finn. “Looks like she guarded those secrets long after she died herself…”

“If I am the last Jedi,” Rey began, “then I’m sure she’ll understand. I can return the holocrons later. I might need this.”

“Should we keep the lightsaber?” Finn grinned. “It’s not much use here. We could always use a spare.”

Rey wanted to roll her eyes because Finn really meant he wanted to keep it, preferably for himself. But she was curious about the lightsaber and wanted to know how it worked as a reference for herself to possibly reforged the old Skywalker saber.

“All right, Finn, we can keep it,” she relented. “But we might have to return it one day. ” She thought she might give Finn this lightsaber she was using once she had the blue blade reforged. Maybe the yellow saber would take to him better than it did with her.

The smile on Finn’s face was brighter than the Klatooinian sun overhead.


End file.
